i’m a quitter.

You’ll learn pretty quickly that my fickleness towards the gym is a constant in my life. One minute, I’m waxing poetically about how much I love gym culture. And then the next, I’m skipping out on the gym for weeks at a time in order to run outside or do a dance class.

Having a gym membership is a nice option. Albeit an expensive one. We pay almost $50 a month for our gym membership at a gym we love. But I’ve found myself only going to the gym about once a week in the past few months. And only because I say, “Oh, we are paying for that, I should really go to the gym.”

It’s not that I’m not exercising—I am. We have an elliptical and recumbent bike in our apartment, plus a lot of assorted free weights. I’ve been running and walking outside a ton, and that will only increase as spring draws near. Plus the ever fun Wii games and fitness DVDs. Summer brings hikes and swimming, too. I really like the idea of an “active lifestyle” as opposed to going to the gym for the entire purpose of burning calories.

My big concern is weather and training for races and not having an indoor track to do it on. I’ve been told by my doctor to not run outside when it is below freezing due to a lung condition (although I’m starting to test that limit). Also, I am way, way, way, intolerable of heat. Not that I plan on training for any races in August. I guess I could always buy a $4 day pass for the days when I MUST run on the track.

I’ll admit though, there is something special and motivating about going to the gym. Everyone is there on the same mission. It is a chance to turn off the rest of life and really get down to business. I’m just not sure that is worth $600 a year, especially considering my #1 2011 goal.

22 Comments

I quit my gym 3 months ago and never looked back! I was a regular gym bunny as long as I had a personal trainer, but when I couldn’t afford him anymore it quickly lost its charms. I maybe went 3 times in the following 4 months and then decided my exercising would be just running – freeeee! – and ashtanga yoga (not free but far more beneficial to me than the gym). If you can go on cheap day passes at times of necessity then I say: Quit the gym!

I quit my gym when the weather got nicer last spring and haven’t regretted it… Much. There have been weeks where Chicago weather has been so horrendous that I really can’t get outside for a run, but most of the time it’s not an issue. Now granted I don’t have doctors orders to not run outside in the cold… Perhaps you can do what I had done, which is only sign up for the really cold months or pay as you go when you really need access to a track or machine.

I had my membership for just over a year, and found that I wasn’t using it enough to warrant the $50/month. I bought myself a 10 pack of drop in tickets to the gym (at a cheaper-than-regular-drop-in-rate) and found that I will go to the gym when I *want* to go, not when I feel obligated. This actually made me happy to spend time at the gym, because I was there for me, and not for guilt.

I hate the gym. I hate staring at a wall or at the TV or at other people while I’m working out. I hate the way the gym near me smells. I hate spending $70+ per month to do something I don’t even think is fun. I hate the commitment.

I love doing things outside. Walking, cycling, chasing the dogs, walking, swimming, walking. 🙂 I hate that my activities are so limited in winter. I don’t pay for a gym membership, as we’d have to walk to the gym and the closest one to us is $100+ per month (for one person) and the YMCA is also pretty expensive. I do drop-in swims and classes (like yoga and zumba), but not often. And now I want to spend money on activities I can do with the baby. I’m anxious for spring, though.

We quit right after Thanksgiving too – we went pretty regularly (3 or 4 times a week) from mid summer on, but once it got cold, miserable and dark at 3 pm we just didn’t want to leave the house after getting home from work. I don’t have the option of going to the gym right from work either – I have dogs who need to be cared for first. 🙂 I’ve still been exercising too – doing Pilates and Dance Central at home. I’ll get out walking more when Spring hits…. might be 4 months, but I’ll be ready to go!!

I’ve been thinking about going to the recreation centre here in Edmonton,AB.There’s a gym, ice skating rink, swimming pool… but it’s $ 60 for a month pass or you can drop in for $ 7.I’m pretty fickle too as far as regularly going to the gym.I’ll do good for a few months and then get bored with it.I have come to the conclusion that for me it’s better to just pay for a day pass once in awhile when I want to do a class or go swimming and then use my free weights at home.We have a 8 month old miniature schnauzer that goes bonkers if she does not get her daily walk and as the weather gets better I’ll probably be outside more and more with her.Kind of sounds like you are in the same boat.Sounds like you have everything you need at home.Maybe it would be best to just get a pass when you want to run indoors on the track.But you know yourself best and what will work for you. 🙂

The only gym in our small town is also $50 a month, which for me is just too expensive, even though I love going to the gym and did several times a week when I had the membership. Now I pay $3 to go once a week. I stay a long time and it feels like a special treat, haha. But I live in a very temperate climate in a town with lots of trails where it’s easy to walk and run outside.

When I lived in a different city, Gold’s Gym was only $30 a month and had tons of classes… I’d rejoin Gold’s in a heartbeat.

Sorry, I got so hung up on the “temperate climate” part that I can’t process anything else. It is 20° here and we literally have a inch and an inch and a half of ice on the ground. I have to put “chains” on my shoes just to walk out and get the mail. Which I couldn’t get because the mailbox was frozen shut.

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My name is Cassie, and I want to help you eat better. I believe eating whole foods can change your life (it did mine), and I believe you can do it without losing your mind, going broke, or eating like a bird.

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